Back Off, Bully Boy! Llama Llama and the Bully Goat by Anna Dewdney

LLAMA LLAMA
LIKES TO SING.
GILROY LAUGHS
AT EVERYTHING.

LLAMA SINGS OUT
JUST THE SAME.
GILROY SAYS
A NOT-NICE NAME.

Llama Llama had his problems getting used to school, but now he likes everything about it--counting and painting, writing and making things, and especially circle time music with songs and clapping to the beat. Llama is in the school groove and everything is going just fine for him and his friend Nelly Gnu until Gilroy Goat joins the group.

In no uncertain terms Teacher tells Gilroy that name-calling is NOT allowed, and he backs off, but when recess rolls around and Llama and Nelly are busy in the sandbox making roads for  Fuzzy Llama and Gnu Doll, Gilroy horns in again, this time jeering at their toys and kicking up a sandstorm with his hooves.

GILROY THROWS
SOME SAND ON NELLY.
"HA HA! GNUS ARE
REALLY SMELLY."

This time Teacher is not at hand, but Llama knows how to handle a bully goat. He advances on Gilroy, looks him in the eye, and tells him to butt out. Then he and Nelly leave the bully standing in the sand all alone. Now who's the goat?

BEING BULLIED
IS NO FUN!
WALK AWAY...
AND TELL SOMEONE.

Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama has had his moments of misbehavior, but in her latest, Llama Llama and the Bully Goat (Viking, 2013), he steps up and makes Gilroy Goat pull in his horns. Dewdney's Llama Stories series combines engaging rhymes and evocative artwork in which body language and facial features help preschoolers interpret situations and see their own behavior as others see it, with adult figures who calmly moderate all that llama drama, leaving her characters to work out better ways to deal with their feelings.

As Kirkus Reviews puts it, "Her textured oil, colored-pencil and oil-pastel illustrations shine when portraying the animals' faces--joy, discomfort, surprise, anger, stubbornness, disappointment are all crystal-clear on them." This skill is a rare gift that has been displayed throughout Dewdney's series, beginning back in 2005 with her best-selling battle-of-bedtime story, Llama Llama Red Pajama. Other not-to-be-missed sequels are Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Llama Llama Misses Mama, Llama Llama Home with Mama, Llama Llama Time to Share, and that classic of the pre-Big Day meltdown, Llama Llama Holiday Drama.